


February G/t Prompts

by KieraElieson



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Borrowers - Freeform, Fairies, Fluff, G/T, Gen, Giants, Hurt/Comfort, Size-shifting, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, prompt list
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:54:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 15,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22972864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KieraElieson/pseuds/KieraElieson
Summary: HiddenDreamer67 made a prompt list on Tumblr, and now that I’ve written them all, I’m posting them here! There’s angst, there’s fluff, there’s one shots, and also series’s! If you want a continuation of any of them, feel free to ask!
Comments: 85
Kudos: 92





	1. Ideal/Ignore

  * •^*^••



**1**

**Ideal/Ignore**

  * •^*^••



Patton made a short sound as he jumped back. 

Logan sighed and took his hand. “While it would have been ideal if they could have ignored us, we are still able to make it through.”

“They keep moving, Lo! I don’t know where to step.”

“I’m sure that they would dislike being stepped on just as much as you would dislike stepping on them. Move slowly and clearly, and they will get out of the way.”

Logan bit back a growl as one of the humans managed to stab his ankle with a tiny sword. Unfortunately, the rest of the humans only saw this as an encouragement to do the same. 

Patton let out a yelp, and Logan saw that he was receiving the same treatment. 

Logan quickened his pace, still trying to avoid stepping on the humans. 

“This world just isn’t for giants anymore,” he grumbled. 

“We’re still living in it, though,” Patton said, his steps becoming jumpy. 

“Next time we’re going to climb over the mountains,” Logan said. “I don’t care how big they are.”

Patton just nodded. 

It took them several more minutes to make it through the human town. Then they were able to move much quicker, and get a decent distance away. They stopped by a large river that they could put their feet in. 

They hadn’t been there long, or perhaps it was longer than they realized, when a small voice spoke in their language. 

“Excuse me.”

Logan turned, and saw two humans on the ground. “Yes? How do you know our language?”

The one human was dressed in dark, loose clothes. A magician of some sort. The other spoke up. “I’m the prince of a small kingdom down the river. I would hate to offend, but you are polluting our water source.”

The magician nudged him. 

“Oh. I know your language because it was one of the ones I learned as a prince. Honestly, I never thought I would get the chance to use it.”

Patton was already pulling his feet out of the river. “Well, we’re sorry. We’re just passing through.”

Logan nodded. 

“I see. Might I ask where you are traveling to?”

Patton shrugged, a wry grin on his face. 

“Our previous home became uninhabitable. We are trying to find a new one.”

The human nodded. “In that case I would like to extend the hospitality of our kingdom to you.”

“Thank you for your offer, but I’ve had enough of humans,” Logan said. 

“It would be pretty hard to find food in a little kingdom,” Patton said, his voice apologetic. 

“I could instruct our people to leave you entirely alone,” the human promised. “And as for food.” He looked toward the magician. 

The magician pulled something out of a pocket, and cast a spell on it. It grew in size considerably. 

“Is that bread?” Patton asked. “I haven’t had bread in ages!”

“Don’t just eat enchanted food!” Logan scolded. “And you, what do you want in return? Surely you want something.”

“Well, as a… quite small kingdom, we are under constant threat of attack. If you were to live among us, perhaps our enemies would think twice before trying to attack us.”

Logan frowned. “Neither of us wish to hurt humans. We will not be fighting your battles for you.”

“No, of course not. All I’m asking is for you to live peacefully among us.”

“Why don’t we start with introductions, and then we’ll come see where you want us to live, and we’ll decide afterwards? I’m Patton, and this is Logan.”

The human smiled. “My name is Roman, and this is Virgil. We would be proud to give you a tour of our kingdom.”


	2. Deaf/Dare

  * •^*^••



**2**

**Deaf/Dare**

  * •^*^••



“Dare me to get it!” Remus signed. 

“No!” Roman signed back. 

“Man, Roman, what kind of big brother are you? Daring me to do this?”

“I’m not!” Roman signed wildly. 

Remus peeked out again. The human was asleep on the couch, and in front of him was a whole bowl of M’n’M’s. Just ready for the taking of the sneakiest borrower. 

And Remus was that sneakiest borrower. He shook off Roman’s hand that was trying to hold him back, and jumped out of the doorway and down to the floor. 

“Leave me a quick way up, bro.” He signed at Roman. 

Roman glared and flipped the bird at him, but started pulling out his rope and getting it settled firmly. 

Remus crept towards the human, listening intently for any change in his breathing. He scaled the coffee table, and tucked four M’n’M’s into his bag. It was all fine. The human was still asleep. He slid down the rope and flicked the string to dislodge the hook. 

But the metal hook hit the edge of the glass bowl, making a loud  **_ting_ ** _.  _

Remus left the rope and ran. He scrambled up the rope Roman had left set up, aided by Roman pulling on it as hard as he could, and then shoving Remus further inside the tunnel. 

A loud, scared sound seared itself into his ears, and Remus turned to see Roman being pulled out of the tunnel. 

  * •^*^••



Roman screamed. He was pulled out of the safety of the tunnel, and then gripped loosely between two hands. He turned away from the human’s face. Whatever angry threats the human could come up with he didn’t want to read them off his lips. He couldn’t hear, and he wouldn’t see. 

Maybe it would at least be faster this way. 

But turned away like he was, he was able to see Remus on the ground, waving his arms and yelling something angrily. 

“No! Idiot! Go back!” Roman signed wildly. 

But it was too late. The human picked up Remus. 

Roman pounded his fists against the human’s hand. It wasn’t fair.  _ It wasn’t fair!  _ Tears started leaking from his eyes, which he kept tightly closed. He was  _ not  _ going to watch. 

The hand holding him started to move, and he struggled to breathe. He was going to die. They were both going to die. 

He was put on some soft surface. Roman finally looked up in surprise. The human… looked apologetic? Remus put a hand on his shoulder. He was even more pale than normal, but he wasn’t hurt.

“We’re safe. Probably.” Remus signed.

“How?”

“Dee says he’s sorry, that we can go if we want to.”

“Why?”

Remus turned and repeated the question to the human. Dee?

“I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you, or make you scared.” The human spoke clearly, making it easy to read his words. 

Roman gave a short nod to the human. “Let’s go. Quickly.”

Remus said something else to the human, but Roman wasn’t paying attention, climbing down the couch. Remus was only a little behind him. The human didn’t grab for them, even when they went into the wall. 

Relief flooded into him, turning his limbs to jelly. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, you?”

Roman nodded, practically tackling Remus in a hug. 


	3. Bite/Bribe

  * •^*^••



**3**

**Bite/Bribe**

  * •^*^••



(Sympathetic Deceit. Roman is an idiot. Tiny humans are sold as pets.)

“I just need some advice, Pat.” Roman said into his phone. 

“Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

Roman sighed. Best to start from the beginning. “So I went this morning because I wanted to buy a tiny.”

“Mhmm, you did mention that you wanted to do that.”

“But when I got there, there were two tinies in one cage, and Patton, they’re just adorable!”

“Aw! I’m sure they are.”

“So I got them both.”

“Both? Roman, one tiny is a lot to get used to, two at once—“

“Just hear me out, I’ve already gotten them anyway.”

“Ok.”

“So I got them, and brought them home, and I tried to bribe them with food so they’d like me, but then one bit me!”

Patton gasped, but didn’t interrupt. 

“So I put that one back in the cage, but now the other one disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

“Yeah. I can’t find him. He’s such a little guy, Patton, and I’m worried.”

“I can come over and help you look, but if he’s hiding somewhere it probably won’t be easy to find him.”

“Thank you!”

Roman set the phone down and looked into the cage. The tiny he still had was the older one. The two looked like they were related, especially with how close they had been holding to each other. It had been so soft and cute! Well, every bit of softness and cuteness was gone now. The tiny was glaring at him, every line of his body rigid and shaking with emotion. 

“Do you know where he went?” Roman asked. “It’ll be safer for him up here.”

The tiny sneered, and stubbornly refused to answer. 

Roman sighed, and started searching again. 

Patton hadn’t arrived yet, since he lived fairly far away, when Roman finally spotted the tiny. He was curled up hidden between the leg of a dresser and the wall. Roman just poked gently until he fell out, and then picked him up in his hand. 

The tiny was absolutely silent, but curled into a ball, and shaking like a leaf. Roman stood up. 

“Hey, lookit, I found him!” He said, smiling at the other tiny. 

The other tiny, rather than being relieved or happy, got very mad very quickly. 

“Put him down! Let. Him. Go. You—“ there were a couple hasty breaths, “Please. Please just— give him  _ back! _ ” The tiny voice cracked pitifully, letting Roman see through the angry mask for a second. 

Roman opened the cage and set the other tiny inside. The older one moved to be in between Roman and the younger tiny. 

“Virgil, Virgil it’s ok. It’s ok. I’ve got you. Just breathe. Can you breathe for me?”

Roman was stabbed with a sudden guilt. The poor thing was having a panic attack and he hadn’t even recognized it. 

Very slowly, the older tiny got Virgil to calm down. 

There was a knock at the door, and Virgil made a cut off sound. It sounded terrified. The other tiny was holding a hand over his mouth. 

“No, hey! You can’t do that!” Roman said. “That’s just mean.”

He opened the cage door, and Virgil clung tightly to the other tiny, who hissed at Roman. Roman frowned in confusion. 

There was a second knock at the door, and Roman closed the cage to open it. It was probably Patton. 


	4. Promise/Paranoid

  * •^*^••



**4**

**Promise/Paranoid**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 3)

Patton walked in. “Did you find him?”

Roman grinned. “I did. He was all hunkered down behind a dresser.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Patton sighed. He caught sight of the cage. “Ohh, is that them?”

Roman nodded. “Mhmm!”

Patton sat on his knees next to the table so that he was more on eye level. “Hi, guys,” he said quietly. “I’m Patton.”

The older tiny had one hand over the younger’s mouth, and the other around his shoulders, holding him in a tight hug. Not that he needed to, the younger tiny had a death grip around his waist. 

“It’s alright,” Patton said. “We aren’t going to try and separate you. You don’t have to be scared.”

“More like paranoid,” Roman muttered. He spoke a bit louder, “I mean, it’s not like we’d ever do anything to you little guys.”

“Liar,” the older one accused. “You’ve done enough already.”

Roman huffed in annoyance, crossing his arms. Patton turned to look, and then took him by the arm and led him out of the room. 

“Roman, listen, you have to be really, really nice to them. Ok? The poor things are terrified.”

“I don’t get it. I’d be a decent enough owner, but they won’t even give me a chance.”

“Well, they’re scared. You have to give them some time. Especially some time without you in the room.”

“But why? I’ve been nothing but kind to them!”

“I know, I know you have, I believe you. Just, promise me, if you have problems, you’ll call me. No matter what they do, even if they hurt each other, I don’t want you to be the one to do something about it, ok?”

“Why not? I’m the one that’ll be here.”

“I know, just, tinies think about things differently than we do, and I have more practice with it. Oh, now I really wish I’d brought Logan with me.”

Roman frowned slightly. “Fine. If there’s any problem I’ll call you. Now what do I do for now to get them to not hate me?”

“Well,” Patton said, with a wince of sympathy. “I’m going to guess they had a plan to get the little one to escape, and you kinda ruined it by finding him. Not that that’s a bad thing! Just, it may take some time. Leave them alone, and make sure you give them plenty of food and water.”

Roman pouted. “This is not what I imagined owning a tiny would be like.”

Patton put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll do fine. I believe in you, Roman. You just have to remember to be patient. Really, really patient. Ok?”

Roman nodded. 

“Why don’t we go look in their files? We can find their names, and if there’s anything they really like. That should help things along a bit.”


	5. Lamb/Leap

  * •^*^••



**5**

**Lamb/Leap**

  * •^*^••



(In which Roman is a human barely old enough to be an adult, and Patton is his adopted-borrower-son.)

“Alright, Pat, it’s time for bed now.”

“Noooooo!!!! I don’t want toooooo!” Patton took a flying leap off of the dresser, and Roman dropped everything he was holding to catch him. 

Perhaps letting him eat the mini marshmallow this close to bedtime wasn’t a good idea. But he’d asked so nicely! With the puppy eyes and everything!

“Patton, please, you’ll give me a heart attack if you keep jumping off of things.”

Patton hugged his fingers. “But you always catch me! You haven’t missed even once!” He held up a finger in demonstration. 

Roman frowned at Patton, but really, how could he be mad? He pulled Patton close to his chest in a hug. “It still scares me. Can you not do it for me?”

Patton pouted up at him. “Can I do it sometimes?”

“How about this, if you ask permission first I will let you do it sometimes.”

Patton’s face lit up. “Can I do it now? Please!”

Roman gave Patton an indulgent smile. “I’ll let you do five jumps, but only on one condition! After five jumps it’s bedtime.”

Patton considered.

“Ok!”

Roman set Patton back on the dresser. “Ready… go!”

Patton let out a happy squeal as he jumped towards Roman. Roman caught him, and put him back, and caught him, and put him back, until Patton had made not five, but seven jumps. 

“Ok, last time. You promised.” Roman said. 

Patton nodded, and took a running start before leaping into the air. Roman caught him, and held him close instead of putting him back. 

“Let’s get your pajamas now, ok?”

“I’m not tired, Ro,” Patton said. 

“It’s ok. You don’t have to sleep, but I do want you to lay down. Ok?”

“Ok.”

Roman pulled out Patton’s pajamas and handed them to him, and then went into the bathroom to change and brush his teeth. 

Next to Roman’s bed, on the bedside table, instead of a lamp, and alarm, or pile of books, there was a soft plush blanket wrapped into a nest, and a tiny stuffed lamb. The lamb was the softest thing Roman had ever touched, so he’d bought it for Patton for a birthday present. Patton loved it, and fell asleep hugging it most nights. 

Roman put Patton down in the nest. 

“Wait! I need a goodnight kiss!” 

Roman kissed the entire top of Patton’s upturned head. “Goodnight, sweet P.”

Patton grinned at the nickname, finally laying down. “And a story?”

“Maybe another night, I’m pretty tired.”

“Please, Ro? I’ll go to sleep, I promise!”

Roman sighed, and clicked the light off. “Fine, I’ll tell you a story.”

Patton did a happy wiggle, snuggling down into the nest. 

By the time the story was over, Patton was actually looking tired, and Roman was stopping every other sentence to yawn. 

“I love you, Roman,” Patton said sleepily. 

“I love you too, Patton.” Even at the risk of waking him up, Roman stroked a finger gently over Patton’s hair. 


	6. Early/Echo

  * •^*^••



**6**

**Early/Echo**

  * •^*^••



(Deceit is a massive snake-dude. Sympathetic Deceit and Remus)

  
  


Dee slid out of the cave at the end of the canyon as the sun started to rise. Soon the whole canyon would be warm, and every rock would be a perfect place to bask. Dawn was one of his favorite times, when he bothered to wake up early enough for it. It was calm, and quiet, and with everything just waking up, he could almost imagine that there was someone else in the cave, who would wake up to join him once the sun was fully up.

He let out a loud, long, content hiss, and let it echo back over him. But today, unlike most days, there was a sudden yelp from somewhere down the canyon. He slid quickly along the bottom. 

On a ledge of the side of the canyon was a human. 

“Aaaaahhhh!” The human yelled as soon as he could see Dee. Oddly enough, he didn’t sound at all scared. 

“What are you?!? Are you the monster???” 

Dee leaned his arms on the ledge, and rested his chin on his arms. “I’m a mouse.”

The human cocked his head to the side. Then he burst into loud laughter. 

Dee found himself smiling despite himself. By this point, most humans were running away in terror, and many fell to their deaths. This was a very pleasant change. 

“Did you really eat all the other people that came down here?”

“Yes~ mice are well known for hunting humans,” Dee said, rolling his eyes. 

“Are you going to eat me too?”

Dee grinned, showing off his fangs. “Do you want me to?”

“I don’t know. I’ve always been curious.”

Dee reached out and took the human in his hand. He didn’t protest at all. 

“What’s your name?”

“Remus. What’s yours?”

“Call me Deceit.” 

Dee ran his thumb over the tiny body in his hand. 

“I don’t think I’ll eat you. But I may just kidnap you and keep you in my lair. Someone has to clean up the bones.”

“You have a lair?!” Remus’s eyes sparkled. “I wanna see! Can we go now?”

Dee let out a low hiss in surprise, his tongue flickering out. Remus’s eyes got even bigger. 

“You’re amazing…” Remus said, his voice low and awed. “Can you do that again?”

Dee felt his face heat up. 


	7. Yellow/Yeti

  * •^*^••



**7**

**Yellow/Yeti**

  * •^*^••



(In which Virgil is a tailor, and Deceit and Roman are borrowers. Sympathetic Deceit.)

  
  


“Look at all this!” Roman said, far too loudly. 

“The human could be back at any time, must you be so loud?” Dee said, his eyes skimming over the pile of fabric scraps. 

Roman picked up a piece of fur that was either discolored or had been dyed yellow. He swung it over Dee’s shoulders. 

“What about this?” He asked excitedly. 

Dee turned, looking at his reflection in the mirror. He turned back to Roman with his face a complete deadpan. “I look like a yellow yeti.”

“You’ve never even seen a yeti!” Roman protested. “And I can fix this up!” He looked around, finding smaller bits of pieces of a black velvet. “With these! Come on, you’ve always loved the yellow and black, like a little bumblebee!”

“Roman, I swear, if you make anything close to looking like a bee I’ll burn it before I even try it on.”

Roman pouted, but the excitement wasn’t at all dimmed. He went back to the pile, picking and rolling up the scraps that caught his eye. 

Dee started on the more boring task of winding up thread. His rope attached to his hook was fraying, and he needed enough to braid a new one, as well as thread for Roman to sew with. And knowing Roman, he would need to get several different colors of that. 

Roman was still sifting through the pile when he finished. 

“I’ll get some food, make sure you put the pile back together before you leave.”

“Of course,  _ mom _ ,” Roman said, but flashed him a grin. 

Dee hid his own grin. “If you find anything suitable, I would appreciate a new hat.”

Even without looking, Dee could feel the surge of excitement. “Oh, this one could make a hat! It’s stiff enough, and I could make it even better… just got to look in the book again… and then with this!”

Dee made his way to the kitchen. While the human was out, maybe he could find some of Roman’s favorite food. He wished he knew when the human would be getting back. 

This human, who seemed to be called Virgil, wasn’t one to leave food out, but with some careful application of his hook, Dee could pry open the bread box. Getting to things like meat or fruit was harder, but not impossible. Of course, Roman’s favorite had to be the hardest thing to get. 

Virgil sometimes bought caramels. He kept them in a little box on a high shelf, and even for him they were a treat. He would certainly notice if one went missing. But, if Dee could get up there, get the box open, unwrap one, shave a bit off the end, and rewrap it, he didn’t notice. It just took a lot of time to do all of that, especially when he didn’t get much for it. But it was Roman’s absolute favorite, and Roman was certainly going to spend the next week sewing Dee new clothes. 

Dee let out a heavy, determined breath, and then swung his hook. 

The human was gone for a very long time today. Dee was able to get the caramel, and some bread, and even a grape, and get back to their home. Roman was already there, marking on the fabric with a bit of pencil lead. 

Dee set down the grape, and the bread, which he’d had to carry in his hands. He sat down next to Roman. 

Roman looked up, his eyes bright and sparkling. “What do you think? I can make a whole shirt out of just this one piece, and still have some left!”

Dee smiled, he reached into his bag and pulled out the bit of caramel, wrapped up in a small piece of paper. “I think this.”

Roman gasped, his hands flying to his mouth, before smothering Dee in a hug. 


	8. Closed/Capture

  * •^*^••



**8**

**Closed/Capture**

  * •^*^••



(Using a roughly 1:6 scale, rather than 1:12. 

Soooort of a how to train your dragon au?)

  
  


There was a loud snap, and Virgil’s eyes went wide as saucers. His trap had closed on something. His skin crawled and he didn’t dare turn around, much less go and check the trap. He could hear rustling, and muffled sounds of pain. 

A portion of his shock turned to confusion. Animals wouldn’t try to muffle their own noises. He turned around and walked back to the trap. 

There was a giant. In his trap. His trap was closed around a giant’s ankle. He had captured a giant??? There was a giant?? Right there??? He hadn’t even seen a giant in years! And the giant was staring at him. His chin was quivering and tears were running down his face. Dark blood was slipping down over his foot. 

Neither Virgil nor the giant moved or made a sound. 

Virgil’s mind flashed to the last time he’d seen a giant. There had been three of them, lifting rocks larger and far heavier than he was, and building a wall with them. His dad had pointed out the magicians nearby, and told him that the magicians worked for the king. They captured the giants to do the kind of work that would take years to do otherwise. 

And now he had caught a giant. He, who was scared to check a trap he’d set himself. What was he supposed to do?!? He couldn’t overpower it and take it anywhere, and he didn’t dare go near it. He had a crossbow, but, even just the idea of shooting the giant made him sick to his stomach. 

And then the giant spoke, in a voice choked with pain. “Can you help me get out of here, kiddo?”


	9. Garden/Gentle

  * •^*^••



**9**

**Garden/Gentle**

  * •^*^••



(Fairy AU. Sympathetic Deceit.)

  
  


“I have another son!” Patton had exclaimed happily. “Do you want to meet him?”

Dee was dumbstruck. He gave a slight nod and Patton zipped out the window. 

Dee followed, going to stand out in his garden. 

“Close your eyes!” Patton shouted from somewhere. “And hold out your hand.”

Dee complied, holding his hand as steadily as he could. Knowing Patton, it could be anything from a rock with a face to a small toad he’d spontaneously adopted. 

“Now hold still, and be really gentle,” Patton said, landing on Dee’s outstretched hand. 

Something was set in his palm. Something very light and small. 

“You can open your eyes now. Be gentle. He gets scared a lot.”

Dee opened his eyes, and his mouth fell into a soft o. A tiny baby fairy was in his palm, wrapped in gauzy blankets, and looking up at him. 

Patton smiled up at him, puffing up his chest proudly. “It’s your baby brother.”

“He’s so little,” Dee said, his voice barely above a whisper. 

“Of course! He’s a baby!”

“How… where…”

“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that I have a second little kiddo, and you have a baby brother!”

The baby squirmed, pulling an arm out of the blankets and shoving his entire fist into his mouth. He was so little he didn’t even have wings yet. Wait. Was that how fairies worked?

“Where are his wings?” 

Patton frowned at him. “Dee, I thought you of all people would be more considerate.” 

Dee flushed, his thoughts going immediately to his own face. “I-I didn’t mean…”

“He was supposed to be a changeling,” Patton said, picking up the baby. “But the human baby didn’t live long enough to switch him out. They made him the right size again, but couldn’t do anything about the wings, so they just left him.” His face lit up with a blinding smile. “So he’s mine now! And that makes him your brother, so you can’t pick at him about not having wings.”

“No, I didn’t mean it in a mean way. I thought maybe you’d shrunk a human.”

Patton laughed brightly. “You’re the only human I’ve ever stolen, silly!”

Dee gave Patton a relieved smile. He’d never minded being ‘stolen’, in fact, his life had become much better because of it. But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t concerned about any other humans Patton might decide to adopt. 

“Can you make him human-sized so I can hold him?” Dee asked. 

Patton’s smile was the happiest one yet. “I knew you’d love him just as much as I do! We’re going to call him Anxiety, cause he gets so scared. I haven’t picked his real name yet.”

Patton flew down from Dee’s hand to the ground, and set the baby down. The baby grew, without any apparent signs of discomfort, until it was the size of a normal human baby. 

Dee knelt next to the baby, and carefully, gently picked him up. The baby yawned, reaching up and nearly touching Dee’s face with his slobber-covered hand. A smile spread across Dee’s face. 

“Can we name him Virgil?”

Patton flew over to sit on the baby’s chest. He cocked his head to the side. “He does look like a Virgil. I like it!”


	10. Manners/Muzzle

  * •^*^••



**10**

**Manners/Muzzle**

  * •^*^••



(Fantasy Au, Fairy AU)

(Also a note, in some lore I’ve seen iron hurts fairies, whereas in others it just makes them weak. This one is the make them weak one.)

Virgil had to buy a fairy. He’d been buying many of the little packets of dust, and it was just too much. If he got his own fairy, he’d have most of the dust he needed ready and at hand, and might be able to actually make some of the spells that called for fairy blood. 

He looked at the row of little cages, each with a fairy inside. Then one caught his eye. Not because it looked strong, and healthy, and possibly friendly, or because it looked like it had plenty of the dust. Not even because it had beautiful wings. It was the opposite of all those things, actually. 

This one was laying in a heap on the floor of its cage, glaring at him as if it was trying to lay a curse on him with its eyes. It’s wings were pinned, so it couldn’t fly, and their color was dimmed and faint, practically every speck of dust gone from their surface. It was pale, and looked weak. 

“Excuse me,” Virgil said to the owner of the shop. “What’s the matter with this one?”

The owner looked up from the spellbook she’d been studying. “That one? Oh, you don’t want that one, honey. Freya knows I’ve tried to teach it manners, but it just won’t behave. Had to put a muzzling spell on it cause it kept driving away my customers.”

Virgil frowned. “What are you going to do with it, then?”

The owner shrugged. “Look, kid, I’ll give it to you for five silver if you promise not to bring it back.”

Five silver?! Fairies could be as expensive as three gold sometimes! This was worth it no matter how rude the fairy was. 

Virgil stuck his hand out. “Deal.”

The owner shook his hand, smiling. “Alright, I’ll give you the counter spell for the muzzle for an extra silver, and the cage is enchanted so you can take the top off and he’ll stay inside the base.”

Virgil nodded. That would certainly be useful. He reached in his pocket and paid the woman. 

He picked the cage up and carried it home. The first thing to do would be to feed the fairy. He set the cage on the table, and started heating some water in a pot, and then poured sugar in it. Sugar water was pretty basic, but it was the one thing he knew fairies ate. Although, as he thought about it, fairies could really eat just about anything, though they seemed to prefer sweet things. Once the sugar was dissolved, he started cooling the water down to at least tea-temperature. 

He didn’t have anything fairy-sized, but looking around, he found a thimble, and washed it out, filling it with the sugar water. 

He took the top off the cage, and set the thimble inside. 

“There. Eat up. Or drink.”

The fairy glared, carefully sitting up, and then kicking the thimble over. 

“What? Why would you do that? Aren’t you hungry?”

The fairy looked at him in contempt, as if he was the biggest idiot to ever exist. 

And after thinking for a minute, Virgil realized that he actually was the biggest idiot. The fairy probably couldn’t even open its mouth with the spell still active. 

Virgil quickly got the counter spell, grateful that it only required a bit of verbal magic, and not any specific ingredients. 

As soon as the counter spell was cast, the fairy spit something out. The glare was not lessened, and there was no hint of gratitude as the fairy picked up the refilled thimble and drained it. Virgil looked down and saw a tiny metallic bead. 

“Is that iron?” Virgil asked. 

The fairy’s glare turned murderously dark. 

Virgil took a step back, holding up his hands. “Hey, take it easy, I’m not messing with it.”

The fairy turned away. He sure was being quiet. With how the shop owner had talked Virgil would’ve expected a stream of verbal abuse already. He picked up the thimble, and the fairy jumped away from his hand, fear for once taking over the anger in his eyes. 

“I’m just gonna get you some more,” Virgil said, rather apologetic. 

When he returned with the thimble full of warm sugar water, the fairy was straining and twisting his body around, trying to reach the clip on his wings. 

Virgil set the thimble down. “I can take that off for you.”

The fairy glared at him. But he turned halfway, where Virgil could reach the clip but he could still see him. 

“Don’t you dare tear my wings.”


	11. Nail/Nuzzle

  * •^*^••



**11**

**Nail/Nuzzle**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 2. Set quite a while later when they both trust Dee.)

“Deeeee! Help!” Remus yelled, coming out from one of the little doorways in the walls, and dragging Roman behind him. 

Roman was squirming, so he wasn’t dead, but the sight of blood on his shirt still made Dee turn pale. 

“What happened?!” 

“We were playing, and he was running, and he ran into a nail and got impaled!” Remus yelled. 

Seeing as how Roman was still struggling to get free of his brother’s dragging, Dee suspected that impale was a strong word. Remus finally got Roman all the way into the open, and dropped his shoulders. 

Roman half-glared at him, letting out an annoyed sound. 

“Roman,” Dee said, waving a hand to catch his attention. “Can I see?”

Roman rolled his eyes, but picked his shirt up, pushing the waistband of his pants down on one side. There wasn’t much of a puncture, so the nail must have been pretty blunt, but there was dark bruising all around his hip. 

“I’ll get ice,” Dee said. 

Even a small piece of ice covered Roman’s whole side, but Dee insisted that it stay for at least ten minutes. By that time, it had stopped bleeding. Dee was immeasurably glad that it wasn’t any worse. 

Once the timer was up, Roman shoved the ice away and crossed his arms, shivering. 

Something about the way he shivered sparked an idea. And once he had the idea, Dee couldn’t believe that he’d never thought of it before. 

“For being so patient with the ice, I’ll give you a reward,” he offered. 

Roman’s eyes lit up. He signed something. 

Remus translated, since Dee still wasn’t very good at sign. “He wants to know what it is.”

“You’ll see,” Dee said with a smile, and very gently scooped Roman into his hand. Remus climbed on as well. 

Dee took them into the living room and turned on the tv, starting Frozen with subtitles. 

Within minutes Roman was enraptured. 

Remus was less so, climbing all over Dee with hyperactive energy for the first half of the movie, before settling down and nuzzling into Dee’s neck. It tickled, and Dee had to strongly resist the urge to brush him off and rub his neck. But it wasn’t long before he was asleep. 

Roman never tried to move an inch from his place in Dee’s hand. He’d never been in physical contact for so long before. Dee made a mental note to work on buying some other Disney movies for him to watch. 


	12. Accident/Abandon

  * •^*^••



**12**

**Accident/Abandon**

  * •^*^••



(Prequel to 3 and 4. Set just after Dee and Virgil get caught by humans the first time.)

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” Dee clutched at Virgil, crying far more forcefully than he was. 

But Virgil’s stillness scared Dee more than a full breakdown would have. “You abandoned me… to the humans…”

“I didn’t! I swear I didn’t, Virgil! It was an accident! I’m so sorry!”

Virgil gave a slow nod, his eyes unfocused and looking far away. 

“Virgil, please! Please believe me. I never meant for it to go this way! You were supposed to be safe!”

Virgil’s arms slowly came up around Dee, who dissolved into wordless sobs. 

It was late into the night, and despite his fear, Dee was nearly asleep when Virgil spoke again. 

“Don’t leave me.”

They were already tangled together, but Dee squeezes tighter. “I won’t. I promise.”

“Don’t go somewhere without me and leave me.”

“Virgil, I swear to you I won’t.” 

“Don’t make me go anywhere without you either.”

Dee pulled Virgil’s head to his chest and left a kiss on the top of it. “I’ll find a way to keep you safe. To keep us both safe. And together.”

  * •^*^••



“No, nonono, no!” Virgil said, his voice hushed but no less vehement. “You promised, you promised we’d be together!”

“We will, shh,” Dee said, stroking a hand over his arm. “But if we get to a house with entrances is the walls, I’m going to distract the human and you run and hide in the walls.”

“No! I hate this idea! It’s splitting up! And what if I can’t get away? What if I can’t find the way into the walls? What if the human gets mad and hurts you? What if—“

Virgil was getting too loud, he would draw attention. Dee put a hand over his mouth. “It’s ok. You’re the smartest person I know. If anyone can get inside the wall you can. And then you can rescue me. I’ll be fine.”

Virgil glared, his eyes starting to well with tears. He pulled Dee’s hand away. “I don’t like it.”

Dee hugged Virgil. “I know. I’m sorry.”


	13. Venom/Vacant

  * •^*^••



**13**

**Venom/Vacant**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 10)

  
  


Virgil woke up the next morning with an immediate sense that something was wrong. He jerked upright, and looked around his house quickly. Working with magic as much as he did, he had to be vigilant, and wary of even small changes. Nothing seemed out of place, until he looked at the cage. The vacant cage. 

Virgil’s breath came in a quick gasp. What had happened to his fairy??? He shouldn’t be able to get out on his own even if it was open, and the cage was still closed! Had someone stolen him? But then why leave the cage? Had someone purposely just let him go?

He pulled the top off the cage, but no fairy suddenly appeared. Agh! Why hadn’t he just done a tethering spell or something?

  * •^*^••



Logan watched warily from the corner of the cage, the venom having faded from his glare and been replaced with keen attention. As he suspected, the human didn’t make any attempt to feel around inside the cage, and just started freaking out. Now all he had to do was wait, wait for some opportunity to really get out. 

But the human was not prone to talking to himself, or further investigating the cage, or even inviting someone else to help him look. In fact, he spent much of the day out of the house, probably looking for clues to where Logan had gone. 

He finally looked into the cage again in the evening. 

Logan was stiff and hungry, and quite annoyed that not a single opportunity had presented itself. He glared up at the human. Stupid, careful, monster of a being. 

Then the human’s eyes widened, and Logan shrunk back. How had he been seen?! He’d made this spell very carefully! 

The human reached into the cage, and picked up the iron bead. Logan could have slapped himself. With how long he’d had the accursed thing in his mouth it would surely be suitable for a tracking spell. 

He watched, growing more angry and hopeless by the second as the human proceeded to do exactly that. The little ball shot up in the air, leaving a faint glittery trail behind it, and floated over to him. 

Logan dropped the invisibility. “Honestly, of all the spells you could have used, you chose that one? The trail is barely visible, and it floats away in any kind of breeze, not to mention if someone walks through it. It’s slow and inefficient. If I’d actually managed to get out of this accursed cage you never would’ve been able to find me. You’re an idiot, and a failure as a witch. You didn’t even thoroughly check the cage.”

The human just stared at him, his mouth dropped open. 

“Of course. Stand there dumbfounded and make yourself look like more of an idiot than you already are. At least the shopkeeper had an answer for me.”

“You’ve been here the whole time?”

“I believe that should have been obvious.”

“You’ve been here this whole time?! I’ve been searching for you all day!”

A large part of Logan wanted to shrink back from the human’s growing anger, to apologize in hopes of avoiding retribution. But another part of him was still furious at the whole situation, and refused to let him be intimidated. 

“I’m aware. I’ve seen you running around all day like a chicken with its head cut off.”

The human’s face turned pink with anger, his hands fisting at his sides. He let out a huff, and spun around, stalking into the bedroom. 

Logan’s knees suddenly wouldn’t hold him up anymore. What had he been thinking, purposely antagonizing the human that had him trapped in a cage on his desk?!


	14. Shelter/Survives

  * •^*^••



**14**

**Shelter/Survives**

  * •^*^••



(Roman is an Outie AU)

Rain. Pouring, pounding, flooding rain. If there was any way for Roman to survive this, he needed to find some form of shelter. Some form better than his house, which was now underwater. 

Roman slogged through the endless mud. It took time to get anywhere, but now it seemed painfully slow, especially as with every third step another raindrop drenched him. He wasn’t sure how he was going to find anywhere dry. 

But he needed to. And quickly. Every second he was out here was dangerous, and grew more dangerous as fine went by. Predators also would surely be driven out into the open by the deluge. 

  * •^*^••



Logan enjoyed the scent of petrichor, and the calm silence, and that was why he regularly took walks alone after a heavy rain. Everything was fresh and clean. Though not quite as much, this particular rain, since the mud had truly become a thing to contend with. It was caked over his shoes despite his care, and he was soon going to turn back home. 

That is, until a flash of red caught his eye. 

On a narrow branch, which bending even under the slight weight, there was a tiny man. He had a long scratch diagonally over his back. He appeared to be unconscious, and Logan was impressed that he hadn’t fallen. 

Logan carefully lifted him. His face was pale, and he didn’t show any signs of waking. 

Logan held him gently, trying not to aggravate the wound on his back, which was still bleeding sluggishly. He quickly set off for home. 


	15. Raw/Regal

  * •^*^••



**15**

**Raw/Regal**

  * •^*^••



(Giants eat humans, though not on-screen.)

  
  


Roman was turning out of the man’s speech until he raised a small cage. 

“Finally caught one! Truly, it will become a dish worthy of your regal highness.”

Roman blinked, his eyes growing wide with horror at what he saw in the cage. “To eat?!” He asked breathlessly. 

“Well, not raw, your highness,” the man said patronizingly, a slight chuckle in his voice. 

“Tell me I’ve never eaten something like this before.” Roman demanded, clenching his teeth together against the nausea. 

“Your highness, giants eat humans, we’ve done it for millennia. Have you never—“

“TELL ME I'VE NEVER EATEN ONE!” Roman roared. 

The man backed a step away. “Ah, I-It’s… in truth, it’s been many years since we last have caught a human. It’s possible that you have not.”

“Put the cage down on the table and get out of my sight immediately,” Roman said, his teeth still gritted. 

The man made a quick bow, clumsily thrusting the cage onto the table and leaving quickly. 

Roman pulled the cage towards himself and opened the door. The human inside was huddled in the corner, shaking violently, with his face red and wet from tears. 

“You will not be eaten. No harm will come to you.” Roman promised solemnly. 

The human burst into loud tears. “Th-than-k you,” he managed to say, though the phrase was broken up through the crying. 


	16. Height/Horde

  * •^*^••



**16**

**Height/Horde**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 1)

Logan looked over at Patton, his eyebrows furrowing in complete confusion. Despite Patton’s height, which in all other cases had led to humans being angry and scared, he was laying on the ground, covered in a horde of small children, and was giggling. Patton saw his look, and flushed red. 

“It ti-tickles, Lo!” He said through the stream of giggles. Despite this, he made no attempt to get up, or to move at all other than to twitch and flap his hands around. 

Logan watched, still quite confused. One of the children crawled underneath Patton’s shirt, and shortly after Patton let out a loud squeak, squirming around and trying to remove the child. This led to a cheer from the other children. 

“Alright, that’s enough.” Logan said, easily removing the child and setting him on the ground a bit away. “Much more and one of you will be hurt inadvertently.”

He was met with a cry of protest from the children, but continued carefully picking them up and removing them from Patton, who was still shaking with giggles. 

“It is now safe for you to get up, Patton.”

The children had all gathered together to look at Patton disappointedly, and Logan could see that if he was left alone he would give in. 

“No. All of you go home. Patton will be available for more play at a later time.”

The children may not understand most of what he said, but they understood the tone, and his point back to the city. There was much grumbling and complaints, but they turned back. 

Patton finally sat up, wiping away small tears from his eyes. “Thanks, Lo. It’s really a lot of fun, maybe you should try it sometime.”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “I do not think I would derive much enjoyment from such an activity. I also do not wish to lay on the ground.” He ruffled Patton’s hair, and a rain of autumn leaves fell out. 

Patton just giggled again. But this time Logan couldn’t resist smiling back. 


	17. Obey/Oasis

  * •^*^••



**17**

**Obey/Oasis**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 12, 3, and 4)

“You many think your ‘care’ would be some kind of oasis among humans, but it’s just as bad!” Dee said, after throwing away the raspberry Roman had tried to give them. “There is no way we’re going to just roll over and obey whatever you say just because you’re ‘kind’.”

Virgil was mostly hidden behind Dee, which meant that he was all too aware of Dee’s trembling. He was terrified. He always did get mad when he was scared. 

“Then what is it you want?” Roman said, his voice bordering on a yell. 

Patton, the other human, put a hand on his arm. 

Virgil finally found his voice. He had to. He had to do something. “L-leave us alone.” 

Instantly, fear clamped down over him, welding his mouth and eyes shut and forcing his body to be rigidly still. 

“-gil. Virgil, it’s ok. It’s ok.” 

Familiar hands cupped his face gently. 

“They left, it’s ok. Come back to me. I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”

Virgil’s eyes slowly opened. Dee was in front of him, warm and real against the cold numbness of the fear. 

“Virgil, I’m so proud of you.”

Virgil’s mouth moved sluggishly, the ‘you are?’ unspoken. 

Dee nodded firmly. “I am. You did something so brave. It even worked, Virgil. They said they aren’t coming back until we call them back.”

“Huh?” Virgil voice had returned, and he could move again. 

Dee nodded, always patient with him. “They left enough food here for a bunch of days and they left us alone.”

Virgil nodded, still mostly confused. But a glance around showed no humans and a pile of food. 

  * •^*^••



“Yeah, but do you think it’ll really help?” Roman asked, looking at the closed door. 

Patton held his arms to look him straight in the eyes. “No matter if it does or not, can you really tell me you wouldn’t do it?”

“... no. Patton, I screwed up somewhere and I don’t know where!”

Patton’s grip became comforting, and he ran his hands up and down over Roman’s arms. “You’ll figure it out. I know you will. And you’ll make it right.”

Roman gave him a not-very-hopeful smile. 

“I’ll come back in a few days, and I’ll bring Logan. If nothing else he can take a message for you, ok?”

“Ok.”


	18. Trust/Trial

  * •^*^••



**18**

**Trust/Trial**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 12,3,4, and 17)

  
  


Logan sighed. Humans were imbeciles, and yes, that did frequently include Patton. Leaving the two in the cage this whole time? Honestly. 

He slipped underneath the door, and walked towards the dresser the cage was set on. Tied to his back was the key, which was honestly heavier than he preferred to climb with. He wasn’t used to climbing anymore, especially with a weight in his back. 

The other two tinies noticed him, but didn’t say anything. 

After a very long climb, Logan laid on his back in the dresser, ignoring the way the key pressed into him in favor of getting his breath back. 

Finally he was able to speak again. “My apologies, it would have been wiser to introduce myself before I attempted the climb. My name is Logan.”

“Dee,” one of the other tinies offered. 

Logan sat up and turned towards the cage. “I feel I ought to inform you that Patton has requested me to speak with you.”

Dee’s face grew tight and suspicious. “What about?”

Logan started untying the string. “Both he and Roman would like another chance to speak with you. They believe that they and you ‘got off on the wrong foot’ so to speak. They gave me the key to the cage, and I will apologize for their insensitivity. They’re trying, certainly, but they aren’t the most clever humans to exist.”

To Logan’s surprise, the smaller of the two let out an amused huff. 

Finally the string came untied. Perhaps he should put more effort into keeping up his old skills. He maneuvered the key into the lock. 

“I may need your assistance to get it to turn.”

Dee crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s the catch?” 

“They have asked that you remain within the room, however that is a negotiable point. If you hold the lock still I’ll turn the key.”

Dee reached through the bars of the cage to hold the lock still. Logan had a slight difficulty, but he turned the key, and the lock sprang open. Soon the cage was open as well. 

“There. Now, I would like to discuss terms.”

“Terms?”

Logan nodded, sitting on the dresser top, since there was nothing to act as a chair. “I believe that you have things you desire, as do the humans. The goal, if I do not misunderstand, is to coexist in a mutually enjoyable way.”

Dee sat down across from him, and his brother sat beside him. “What if our goal is to leave?”

Logan inclined his head. “I could negotiate terms with that goal as well, however it would require a long trip to discuss with the humans again. And I do not believe that that is actually your goal. Putting aside the dangers of the outdoors, your chances of being recaptured by another human are very great.”

“Better a chance than being captured anyway.”

“Roman is willing to negotiate with you. The vast majority of humans would not. I believe this to be your safer option.”

“As far as negotiation, what is he proposing?”

“He would like to make amends for any past mistakes he has made, with the expectation that a relationship would form between the two of you and him which would be comparable to roommates. Other than that, he is willing to let you set many of the terms.”

Dee nodded slowly. “What about this, then?”

  * •^*^••



“They have agreed to put some measure of trust in you, and to try this under a trial basis. Dee has asked that if either party becomes dissatisfied that I and Patton be called to mediate.” Logan finished. 

Roman’s eyes were wide. “You got them to agree to all of that?”

Logan smiled. “I believe they had the same reaction to you keeping your end of this bargain. I consider that an absolutely favorable outcome to negotiations. Hopefully the three of you will remain just as pleased during the enactment of the arrangements.”

“I knew you were the right person for this job!” Patton said, beaming down at Logan. 

Logan flushed slightly at the praise. “Thank you for your confidence, Patton.”


	19. Waste/Warmth

  * •^*^••



**19**

**Waste/Warmth**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 10 and 13)

  
  


It had been three days. Nothing had yet happened. Logan was scared to even talk to the human at all anymore. He’d made him angry a number of times, and nothing had happened. It was all saving up for something big, and Logan was terrified to find out what. Would he kill him? Logan knew that there were spells you’d have to kill a fairy to cast. He’d been cheap. He was disposable. And he’d made himself a nuisance. As much as it terrified him to admit it, in a human’s eyes it wouldn’t be a waste to use him of one of those spells. His only chance was to hope that  _ this _ human didn’t  _ want  _ to cast one of those spells. 

He heard the human waking up in the other room, and forced his wings to stop their trembling. The dust was finally coming back in, filling in the bare patches, and providing a much needed relief. His wings were clearly blue again. 

The human came into the room, yawning, and ruffling his bed head, which didn’t help it at all. 

“Hey, there. You want sugar water or something else? I’m gonna have… I don’t know. I’ll find something.”

When Logan stayed silent, the human wandered into the kitchen, knocking things around for a while, before a nice smell started to spread through the house. He came back with a plate that had several pieces of toast on it. He sat down at the desk and took the top off of the cage. He cut a corner off of two of the pieces of toast. 

“Here,” he held one out to Logan. “This one has jelly on it. Or the other one is honey, if you’d rather.”

Logan accepted the food, though he was very surprised that he enjoyed the jelly. Usually he didn’t enjoy jelly very much at all, it was merely a source of sugar. 

“What jelly is this?” He asked. It was the first thing he’d said to the human that wasn’t caustic. 

“Some kind of berry, I don’t know. There’s a man up in the mountains who needed a spell done and paid me in jelly. His name was Crofter or something. Weird name.”

Logan nodded. It probably wasn’t his actual name. Up in the mountains there’d be enough fairies that going by your real name could be dangerous. 

“Oh, is that why?” The human asked. 

Logan froze. He hadn’t intended to say it all out loud. He turned his focus back to breakfast. 

“You really like that jelly, huh? I’ve got loads of it. Just a minute.”

Soon there was a spoon set in front of Logan, heaping full of the jelly. 

Warmth touched his wings, and Logan was snapped out of the daze he’d been in. His body was thrumming with energy from the massive amount of sugar he’d taken in. He turned his head, to see the human gently holding his wingtips, and inspecting his wings. 

“You— tricked me. Let go!” Logan jerked and twisted, trying to get free. 

“Hey, hey, calm down.” The human let go. 

Logan flapped his wings several times. They weren’t damaged. He backed to the farthest place he could go from the human. Partially because of the sugar, partially because of the shock, and partially from the built up fear, he was shaking, and couldn’t stop himself. 

“It’s ok. I’m sorry I touched your wings. Are they hurt?”

Logan shook his head dumbly. 

The human turned away, looking through his collection of books for a long time. Logan slowly calmed, but without the flying he was used to, the sugar rush was taking longer to leave his body. 

Finally the human thumped a book down on the desk, laughing slightly and rubbing his face. “This is so dumb. I should have figured it out myself. I’m not giving you my name, but I will tell you, it’s Virgil. I’d like to know what yours is as well.”

“Why?” 

“Because we’re going to be living together for a while, and I thought it would be a good step towards not scaring you again.”

Logan’s mind buzzed, thoughts running around and around of ‘what would he possibly get from not scaring me?’ 

“It’s Logan.”

Virgil smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Logan. Now. How can I convince you that I don’t actually want to hurt you?”

Logan’s eyes went wide, and his thoughts sped up their spinning until they were unintelligible static roaring in his ears. 


	20. String/Shadow

  * •^*^••



**20**

**String/Shadow**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 9, but years later.) 

Dee was writing. It was of the few ways for him to communicate effectively with people, since most took one look at his face and turned away. He had a stack of letters finished already, and a few extra sheets of paper to fill yet today. He was working on one of his longest letters, now seven pages long, to someone named Logan on the other side of the kingdom. Logan had come across one of his letters once, and taken it upon himself to strike up a regular correspondence with Dee. Dee couldn’t be happier. 

The shadow of the ink bottle wavered, separating from its base and wrapping around Dee’s wrist like a bracelet. Unlike a bracelet, it tried to move his hand and make him mess up his writing. He quickly picked up the quill with his other hand and set it aside. 

“Anxiety. Welcome back.”

A string dropped down from his ceiling, and Anxiety came sliding down it, grinning. 

Virgil had certainly learned much from Patton, and was as crazy as carefree as he was, most of the time. He was prone to mood swings so drastic they seemed almost like personality shifts. 

When Dee kept a steady, stern gaze on him, he wilted. 

“Are you mad at me?”

“I’m not angry, but I want to make it very clear to you that these papers are important to me. If you mess them up I will be angry.”

Virgil nodded solemnly, and then brightened up. “So if I don’t mess them up, you’ll be happy and play with me?” He rocked back and forth on the string as if it were a swing. 

“I’ll certainly play with you, especially since you came so far to see me.”

“It’s not too far,” Virgil said, building up enough momentum to let go of the string and go flying through the air to land on Dee’s shoulder, aided by little shadows. “Dad made me big and it only took a day.”

Dee nodded, walking fluidly towards his kitchen. “Are you hungry?”

“Yes! Yes, we both are! What are you making?”

“What do you want?”

Virgil thought about it for a while. “What if we did a tea party?”

“You want a whole tea party?” 

Virgil nodded, his eyes wide and hopeful. Dee had a hard time saying no to him ever, much less when he pulled out the puppy eyes. 

“Ask Dad to make you big again, you’ll have to help me make it.”

Virgil cheered. He slid recklessly down Dee’s clothes, the only reason he didn’t break his legs at the bottom being the cushion of shadows he made. He ran outside. 

Dee smiled fondly after him, shaking his head slightly. 


	21. Quick/Quit

  * •^*^••



**21**

**Quick/Quit**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 12, 3, 4, 17, and 18)

  
  


“It’s ok, I’ll be quick.” Dee said reassuringly. 

Roman had promised not to touch them. Not at all. But that didn’t make it any easier for them to go near him. 

They’d run out of food, and needed to get more. Borrowing wasn’t exactly off limits, but one of the things Roman wanted as part of the deal was to talk with them sometimes, and to that end, Logan had explained, he’d prefer if they came to him and asked if they needed anything. He’d be sure to give it to them, no matter what it was. 

So now Dee was preparing to crawl beneath the bedroom door and go into the living room where Roman was. 

“No,” Virgil said, quiet but determined. “I’m coming with you.”

Dee hugged him tight. “You don’t have to.”

“I’m  _ not  _ letting you go alone.”

Dee gave Virgil a soft smile. Sometimes he was really and truly impressed with his brother’s bravery. He himself would vastly rather never see another human again, and wanted to be able to give Virgil that option. 

They went out together. 

Roman was playing a video game. Suddenly he dropped the controller, which made a loud clatter. “Agh!”

Dee clapped a hand over Virgil’s mouth just in time to mostly hide the terrified squeak. They quickly got under cover, where Roman couldn’t see them if he turned around. 

Roman picked the controller back up. “No, I’m not going to quit. I’m just frustrated. Just reset the level, Roman.”

Slowly Dee stepped out into the open again. If Roman was going to get mad at his game, he should talk to him before he got mad again. 

“Roman?” He said, pitching his voice to carry up to the human. 

“Huh?” Roman turned. His face lit up with a smile. “Dee! And Virgil! It’s so nice to see you!”

Well, that was easier than Dee had worried. “We’ve run out of food.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll definitely get you more. What do you want? I can make something?”

Somehow Dee hadn’t thought that far. He glanced at Virgil. 

“Do you have pizza?” Virgil asked. 

Roman’s face lit up even more. “You like pizza?! I don’t, not yet, but it can be here in half an hour. I’ll call them now.”

Half an hour later, they were sitting on the coffee table, eating pizza, and watching something called Disney with Roman. It was… not bad. Not nearly as bad as Dee would have guessed. 


	22. Half/Heart

  * •^*^••



**22**

**Half/Heart**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 10,13, and 19)

Logan’s wings ached. The cage didn’t let him fly hardly at all, and with how used he had been to flying everywhere his wings were getting sore from disuse. 

And then Virgil had sat down near him, studying a spellbook. He’d put a bookmark in at a spell that Logan knew he had everything he needed for. Everything except fairy dust. Logan wasn’t sure how much he’d need, it would depend on how large of a batch he wanted to make. But what Logan did know was that Virgil wanted to make that spell. 

And with Virgil wanting something, perhaps there was a way for Logan to get what he wanted. If only he moved first, and moved quickly. If he waited, Virgil could very easily pin him down and take the dust himself. 

He did it when Virgil was out of the room. 

Virgil came back and his eyes went wide when he saw Logan. Logan felt a bit faint, and his heart was pounding in his chest. It was his only chance. He had to do this well. 

“I want to make a deal with you.” Logan said, forcing himself not to sway as he stood there. 

Virgil stepped closer. “What did you do?” He asked breathlessly. 

“I want to trade you this dust,” Logan said, holding up the little pile. “And I want to be let out of this cage.” He quickly moved on, not giving Virgil a chance to speak, to reject his offer. “I’ll stay in the house, or even in the room. I won’t try to leave. Just let me out of here, and leave me alone. I-I’ll give you dust, or blood, or whatever you want—“

“Logan.”

“No! No, I— is this not enough? I’ll have more soon. I’ll give you that too.”

“Logan.”

“What else do you want from me?! I don’t… have… if you promise you’ll let me go I’ll give you my name—“

“Logan!” 

Logan jumped, biting down hard on his lip. He was panicking. He was panicking and rambling, and he’d just as good as promised his name to a human. His chest heaved up and down and he couldn’t look at Virgil. 

“Logan,” Virgil said a fourth time, his voice much softer. “I don’t mind letting you out. But you didn’t have to hurt yourself like this.”

“I-I don’t want to just be let out,” Logan said, his voice quiet and shaky. “I want to stay out. I want the cage burned!” He clapped a hand over his mouth. 

“Then I’ll burn it,” Virgil said firmly. “But you can’t go hurting yourself.” He gestured at the pile of dust Logan had scraped off of his wings. “I barely need half of that, and it could have waited.”

Logan was utterly confused. “Why would you…”

“Look, I do need dust. It’s why I bought you. So I do need you to stay, but I don’t want you here as a prisoner or a slave. I’d much rather that we can get along. If you promise not to fly away and leave, I’ll find the counterspell and get you out of the cage right now.”

“I won’t leave,” Logan said. 

Virgil nodded. He did go and find the counterspell, and as soon as Logan was out of the cage he tossed it in the hearth and set it on fire. 

Logan’s wings were still sore, even more so now that he’d stripped them of their dust, but he was out of the cage. He could fly again. 

“There.” Virgil stood up. “Now, how about some lunch? I’m guessing you’ll need some extra food to grow the dust back.”

Logan nodded dumbly. 

A spoonful of the jelly that had quickly become his favorite food was put in front of him. He stared, not quite believing that the cage was actually gone, despite seeing it burn up just a few minutes prior. 

“You know,” Virgil said, talking around the sandwich he was eating. “Up on top of that cabinet there’s a nice space. I can’t promise there isn’t a mouse already up there, but if you want it, you could build a neat little house up there.”

This only further confused Logan. He turned his head to look up at the cabinet several seconds too late, and his brain wouldn’t cooperate with him any more. 

“I can give you stuff to build with, but otherwise I’ll leave it alone. If you want some alone time or whatever, I won’t mess with you.”

Logan blanked even more. This… wasn’t… how things were supposed to work. 


	23. Jealous/Jump

  * •^*^••



**23**

**Jealous/Jump**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 5)

Roman was almost jealous. Scratch that, he was jealous. 

He’d handmade a little bitty trampoline for Patton to jump on, and Patton absolutely adored it. But that meant that Patton spent a lot of his jumping energy on the trampoline. It had only been two days since the thing was finished, and Roman had only caught Patton from leaping off a dresser three times. 

So now Roman was sulking on the couch, listening to the bouncy, happy sounds of Patton jumping on his trampoline. He was glad that Patton was happy, but that didn’t make him any less jealous of the trampoline. 

Roman finally turned on a movie, though he was barely watching it. 

The bouncing slowed down gradually, and ended with a small ‘oof’. 

“Ro?” 

Every bit of Roman’s attention was immediately drawn to Patton. He was sitting on the floor beside the trampoline, his hair all ruffled up, his posture slumped, and his arms reached out. 

Roman came immediately and picked him up. “What happened?”

Patton shook his head, curling around Roman’s thumb. “I’m tired now.”

Roman let out a small awww, which had Patton smiling. Roman sat down on the couch, holding Patton close. 

Patton was wrapped around his thumb like a koala, and was very quiet, just watching the movie. His little head dipped and bobbed a few times, and then he left go, crawling into Roman’s sleeve and poking just his head out. 

“Whatcha doing in there, sweet pea?” Roman asked. 

Patton answered with an adorable yawn. “Mmm’ove you Rom’n.”

Patton cuddled up to Roman’s wrist like he did with his lamb plush, and Roman felt his heart swell up. 

“I love you too, Patton. So much.”

Patton gave him a sleepy hum, and then went still. 

Well, maybe if it meant he got to experience this, Roman didn’t hate the trampoline as much as he thought he did. 


	24. Umbrella/Unhappy

  * •^*^••



**24**

**Umbrella/Unhappy**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 1 and 16)

Patton was sitting quietly, looking out at the city through the rain. Logan slowly approached and sat down beside him, aware that Patton usually became unhappy on rainy days, and required more company than usual. 

But he was surprised to see a smile on Patton’s face, his eyes bright and darting around the city. 

“What are they doing, Lo?”

Logan looked over the city. At first he’d assumed that they were merely going about their daily activities. But now that he looked more closely he could see that he was mistaken. In addition to the bright umbrellas, the clothes the people were wearing were more brightly colored than usual. Many people walked in a… bouncy way. And still more were spinning the umbrellas they carried, making bright pinwheels for the two giants to watch. 

“I would assume that there is some kind of festival later in the day that they are preparing for.”

“What kind?”

“I am not yet familiar enough with their customs to make a guess.”

“Do you think it’s from the rain, or because of what day it is?”

“For your sake, Patton, I hope it’s the rain.”

Patton smiled. “Oh, that’s sweet Logan.” He leaned in closer to Logan’s side. “I’m so glad you stayed with me.”

Logan gave a short huff, “Well, I certainly wasn’t going to choose the other option.”

“What other option?” Virgil asked, startling Logan out of the softer frame of mind he’d been in. 

“It’s a giant thing,” Patton said, and Logan could see from Virgil’s face that the answer was not satisfactory, but he also didn’t want to go into that kind of subject today. 

“Is there an event today?” Logan asked. 

Virgil nodded. “Yeah, we celebrate the first big rain in the spring. They’ll probably be out and around all day, and if the rain gets harder there’ll be a dance.”

Patton’s face lit up at the idea of a dance. 

Logan couldn’t help but notice that Virgil’s clothing was no more colorful today than any other day. “What about you? Do you not participate in the festivities?”

“Oh, uh, no, not really. It’s just not my thing.” Virgil shrugged, and started casting spells on the food he’d brought. “I’m not from here, so I didn’t grow up with it, and it’s just all— it’s a bit much.”

Logan nodded in understanding. While it was enjoyable to watch, he would not be very comfortable participating either. Patton might. Actually, Patton would probably be extremely pleased to participate. 

“Will that spell work the other way?” Logan asked. 

Virgil considered. “It might. It wouldn’t be the best one though, and I couldn’t use it on anything living.”

Logan was hit with an idea, but for it to work, it would need to be a surprise for Patton. He inwardly cursed his small vocabulary of human words and then spoke. 

“You make him small? He can play?”

Virgil’s eyes narrowed. “Oh? Ohhhh! Yeah, I think I could, for a few hours at least. I’d have to gather some supplies first.”

Logan smiled, feeling very proud of himself. Virgil left shortly after. 

“What was that all about?” Patton asked. 

“Oh, nothing. I’m practicing their language, and I made a specific request.”

“Ooh! For what?” Patton asked, just as happy for Logan as he would’ve been for himself. 

“A surprise.”


	25. Pack/Pathetic

  * •^*^••



**25**

**Pack/Pathetic**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 10,13,19, and 22)

(Now known as A Story that is Definitely about Crofters Jam)

  
  


Virgil carefully packed down the pollen into the measure. This had to be precise. He glanced over at Logan, who was watching him intently. 

“How is it?”

“It is… adequate.”

“Logan, you’re looking at me like I’m pathetic. What am I doing wrong?”

Logan’s face became tight and controlled. “Tap the measure gently against the table.”

Virgil tapped, and a little sinkhole opened up. He added more pollen. “Thanks.”

Several steps later they went through a similar routine, with Virgil having to coax Logan’s criticism out of him. 

“Look, what’s going on?” Virgil asked. “The shopkeeper said that you were rude and talked all the time, and I thought that you were blunt and spoke your mind, but you’ve been passive and walking on eggshells for days now!”

Logan backed away, his jaw clenching. “What do you want from me?”

“I just want you to be normal. I don’t even know you and I know this isn’t you!”

Logan crossed his arms tightly. 

“What’s wrong, Logan? What am I doing wrong? I-I talked to other people that keep fairies, and I thought I was doing everything they said to. I gave you your own place, I give you all of that jam you could eat, I let you do whatever you want.”

Logan turned half away. “You have me trapped in this house. At any time you could cast some spell on me. It would be foolish of me to ‘be myself’ and chance making you angry.”

Virgil froze for a moment. 

“If you want me to ‘be myself’ I can’t be your little pet.” Logan spat out the word as if it burned him.

“But--- you agreed to stay so easily…”

“Of course I’d trade a small cage for a larger one!” Logan said, bristling. “That doesn’t make this any less of a cage, just more comfortable.”

Virgil gnawed on his lip. “....then leave.”

“What?”

“Leave. I--” Virgil cast about for the words. “Release you from your promise. You don’t… have to stay anymore.”

Virgil turned around. There was a slight noise behind him, and when he turned back Logan was gone. He let out a heavy sigh, shoving the half-made spell to the side and dropping his head onto the table. 


	26. Crest/Collect

  * •^*^••



**26**

**Crest/Collect**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 10, 13, 19, 22, and 25.)

(A Story that is Definitely about Crofters Jam)

“Ugh!” Virgil threw away another crumpled paper. He’d never thought he’d have to do this, never wanted to. 

It just, it made him too visible. If he made a mistake anyone could see that it was him. He didn’t like that at all. 

Virgil turned back toward the clean sheet of paper. His brain was blank. He’d been told to make a crest for himself, something that he would put on every spell he made. But he couldn’t think of anything. It needed to be representative of him, but also simple enough he wouldn’t be pulling his hair out every time he needed to repeat it. 

Virgil let out a grumbling sigh. He missed Logan. He shouldn’t- he shouldn’t have gotten so attached! After Logan left, Virgil had thrown himself into his work, trying to distract himself, not that it was working well. He’d made more spells in the last few days than in the month before, and that was probably why he had to make this dumb crest. 

  * •^*^••



It was… harder than Logan had expected, living alone and by himself. He’d been held captive by many humans before the shopkeeper, and he hadn’t lived alone before that. It was harder, trying to collect nectar from flowers and trying to find shelter by himself. 

Perhaps… no. He didn’t need to check on Virgil. 

But he could do it invisibly. Virgil would never know. 

He did  _ not  _ need Virgil. 

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t visit. 

Logan found himself much closer to Virgil’s house than he had intended. He quickly turned invisible. Suddenly the door opened, and Logan zipped behind the tree in the yard. Virgil walked straight for the tree. 

Logan flew up into the branches, where Virgil couldn’t reach. How had he seen him?! 

But Virgil just set a cup in a fork between branches. His face contorted into a strange expression, one Logan didn’t know how to read, and then he turned and went back inside.

So he didn’t see him. That at least was a relief. Logan flew down to look at the cup. It was covered in a thin paper, and his name was written on it. Had Virgil seen him or not? And what was in the cup?

Logan poked a hole through the paper, just enough to look inside. It was Crofter’s Jam. His mouth started watering immediately. He flitted back and forth, back and forth, thinking hard. He started back to his makeshift house, to get some of the acorn shells he’d been collecting. They’d be perfect to carry the jam in. And then he stopped. He thought for a long time again. 

  * •^*^••



Virgil rolled the teeny bead around on the table. It was the last thing he had of Logan, but even that hurt.

He had a bit of money now. And he was young. If he moved and switched professions it wouldn’t be too late. Probably. 

The sun was setting. He should go get the cup back. It’d just attract wasps or something if he left it. The jelly would certainly mold. It’d been a long shot anyway.

But he didn’t want to get up.

A chill settled into his body as the night progressed and he still didn’t move. He was an idiot, getting attached to a fairy. He should’ve known something would happen. 

A quiet tap on the window made him jolt upright. It was Logan. It was Logan! He was standing right there! Virgil felt tears spring to his eyes. He stared like an idiot for several long seconds before springing into motion and opening the window. 

Logan held up a hand as soon as Virgil opened his mouth. “Please, allow me to say my piece before you speak.”

Virgil nodded, his mouth clicking shut.

Logan jumped down to stand on the table, glancing distastefully at the bead. “I have come to propose a deal.”

Virgil nodded. A deal with a fairy was supposed to be always bad, dangerous at the very least, but this was Logan.

“I want to become your partner. I will aid you in preparing your spells, including using my own dust or blood if it is required, within reason. In return, you will allow me to either stay or leave freely, you’ll provide me with food and give me a third of the payment for the spells. You will not have or try to obtain control over me, and I will do the same for you.”

Virgil was already nodding. “Yes! I-- Yes.”

Logan seemed taken aback by his ready agreement. “Y-you’ll be held to these terms--”

“I know. Yes, it’s a deal. I-- I missed you, Logan. A whole lot more than I ever would have imagined.”

“I won’t be staying here constantly.”

“But you'll come back. If we’re partners, you’ll come back.”

Logan nodded hesitantly. 

Virgil let out a rough laugh, rubbing a hand over his face. “I’m acting crazy. Sorry. It’s-- I haven’t slept.”

“In how long?”

“Uh,” Virgil floundered. “I don’t know. Couple days.”

“That cannot be healthy.”

“It isn’t,” Virgil acknowledged. 

“Then go to bed.”

“I--ok. Will… will you still be here in the morning?”

Logan nodded slowly. “I believe so.”

  * •^*^••



Much of Virgil’s strange behavior was gone in the morning. He was still a bit jumpy, but considerably more normal. That was a relief. Logan was strongly suspecting he’d made a very wrong decision.

The first bite of warm toast covered with Crofters reversed that feeling almost entirely. Logan didn’t see any need to hold back, and ate until he was full.

The rest of the morning he zipped around Virgil, making corrections and helping make spells. Virgil needed some kind of crest, and Logan suggested a stormcloud, with a bolt of lightning shooting down. Virgil liked it, and it was a good thing. Between Virgil’s good mood, and Logan’s seemingly boundless energy, many spells were made that morning, and each needed a crest to be painted onto its container. They made enough to fill all of Virgil’s orders, and some common ones to sell to the shopkeeper. 

  * •^*^••



“Thank you, for coming back,” Virgil said, meticulously sewing a complicated symbol on a small pouch. “I thought you’d be gone forever.”

“Well, clearly your life is improved if I stay,” Logan said, currently working on arranging the space in top of Virgil’s cabinet to his ideal of a living space. 

There was silence for a long minute. 

“Is yours?” Virgil asked. 

Logan considered. “I believe so.”

Virgil ducked his head to hide the smile, but Logan saw it anyway. 


	27. Karma/Kneel

  * •^*^••



**27**

**Karma/Kneel**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 14, but much later)

Roman looked down at Logan, kneeling and trembling before him. He burst out into a laugh. “It’s karma, nerd!”

Logan was slowly gathering himself. “It’s science. Granted, this has gone in a different way than I had expected, but that does not mean that some kind of ‘fate’ is involved.” 

Logan stood up, swaying a bit. “Put me on the desk please.”

“What, and let you trade us back so quickly? I don’t think so.” Roman picked Logan up, holding him in front of his face. “You know, it’s really weird, seeing you so small.”

Logan sighed. “I’m sure it is. Feel free to wander the house for a few minutes. Once the novelty has worn off, please return me to the desk.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure, later.” 

Roman did wander the house. It was entirely new, seeing it from this vantage point. 

It was maybe half an hour later when Logan spoke up again. “How long are you intending to walk in circles? Please return me to the desk.”

“No, I don’t…” Roman looked down at Logan, held securely in his hand. “I don’t think I want to give this up.”

“I believe I can better understand your feelings now than I could’ve a short while ago. I can see now why you dislike spending too much time around me, and why you dislike being touched without consent. I believe I can begin to understand why you do not wish to return to your original size as well.” 

Logan, for the first time, started squirming, and Roman opened his hand to let him sit freely on his palm. “That being said, this was an experiment, not intended for anything long term. I do not know the side effects if we stay like this. It is simply not safe.”

Roman gave a slow nod, still hesitant. 

“Once I have tested further, and found a safe way of doing so, I would be willing to exchange our sizes again. Perhaps more than once.”

“Really?”

Logan nodded. 

Roman’s head dipped down. “Alright.” 

He set Logan on the desk, and not long after, the tremendous dizziness started up. Roman fell to his hands and knees, shaking as his size left him. The whole process was much less pleasant going down than it had been going up. 

When it was finally over, Logan had a hand rested on the ground near him for Roman to climb into. 

“I think… actually, I’d rather be alone for a while.”

Logan nodded, retracting his hand. “I understand. I will make some dinner, and call you when it is ready.”


	28. Forget/Failure

  * •^*^••



**28**

**Forget/Failure**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 12, 3, 4, 17, 18, and 21)

  
  


“But why not?” Roman asked, pushing this farther than he usually would. 

Dee crossed his arms tightly. “I can’t just forget what happened last time.”

“But from what you’ve told me, last time was entirely different.”

“No, the result was entirely different. You’re asking me to give you permission to pick us up. The last time I gave that to a person we were both abducted and sold!” Dee’s jaw clenched. 

“But don’t you trust me?”

“I trusted  _ them _ !” Dee turned away. “I’d rather not be reminded of my own failure. I’m leaving.”

“Dee, wait, I’m sorry. I’ll drop it. Please stay.”

Dee didn’t leave, but he didn’t turn back around either. 

“We can talk about something else. Whatever you want. Or we can watch a movie. Or a game.”

Dee slowly turned back around. “I’d like to try one of your games.”

Roman grinned. “I’ll get it set up!”

Dee made his way towards the living room. When he got up onto the table Roman was looking at the controller and frowning. 

“I’m not sure… It might take both of you to play.”

Dee looked at the controller. He would not be able to push all of the buttons at once. “It’s possible that Virgil would also enjoy the game, if you can keep your temper.”

“Whaaaaat? I’m perfectly fine, I’d never get mad at you!”

“Perhaps not at us, but you’ve been plenty mad at your games.”

Roman got a pout on his face, but he didn’t protest. “I’ll go ask Virgil if he wants to play. And I won’t get mad.”

Several minutes later, after Dee had watched Roman play a few rounds of a single-player game, Virgil made it up onto the table.

“How do we do this?” he asked.

Roman gave an explanation, which Dee didn’t entirely understand, and then he helped to position the controller so that they could reach all of the buttons. It took several more minutes to work out which buttons they would each control, but then they began the game. 

For the entire first hour, Roman had no reason whatsoever to be upset, while Dee grew more and more irritated. But then, something clicked. He and Virgil were working as a team, finally understanding the controls. And then they had Roman on the defensive. 

“Ha!” Virgil cheered, as their victory was flashed up on the screen.

Dee was surprised. He hadn’t heard Virgil make any kind of loud noise from happiness in ages. It was his own fault, but he was so pleased to see it go away, even if just for a while.

Roman smiled down at them. “You guys are really getting it! High five!” He held out a finger.

Virgil smacked the finger, and Dee did the same, though less enthusiastically. 

“You want to do another round?” Roman asked.

“Only if you’re ready to get beat again,” Virgil challenged, smirking.

“That remains to be seen!” Roman said, setting up the next round. “Just cause you beat me once doesn’t mean I won’t kick both of your butts this time!”


	29. Little/Large

  * •^*^••



**29**

**Little/Large**

  * •^*^••



(Continued from 1, 16, and 24)

  
  


Virgil came back carrying a bottle. “This should work. It’ll last for a few hours.”

“Thank you,” Logan said. 

“Ooh! Is this the surprise? What does it do?” Patton asked. 

“Drink it, and find out,” Logan said, a rare mischievous smile on his face. 

Patton carefully took the bottle, trying not to crush it by accident. He tipped it up over his mouth, and what was to him barely a drop came out. It was surprisingly sweet. 

And then he felt very dizzy. “L-Logan? Wha-at does this do?”

Logan gripped his arms to steady him. “Virgil?”

“Just lay down. Close your eyes.” Virgil instructed. 

Logan helped Patton lay down. Patton laid still, but he was feeling weirder and weirder, and the ground against his back was very scratchy, almost as if he was moving. 

Finally the feeling faded. Patton opened his eyes, and let out a loud squeak. “Logan! You’re huge!”

Logan nodded. “At the moment, compared to you, I would seem quite large.”

Patton sat up and looked around. “Virgil? You too. Everything! It’s all so big!”

Logan smirked. “Another way to think is that you are now little.” 

Patton’s eyes were wide, and he couldn’t stop looking all around. “Did it shrink me?”

Virgil let out a chuckle. “Yeah, Logan wanted you small so you could join the dance.”

Patton gasped, his hands flying up over his mouth. “I can dance?!!”

“You can,” Logan said, smiling proudly. 

Patton jumped up, bouncing up on his toes. “Can I go now!?”

“Nothing’s stopping you,” Virgil said. 

Patton let out a brief squeal and ran out into the rain and down to the city. The people were so nice! They gave him a bright scarf to wear, and an umbrella, and even taught him the dance moves. And then there was a crack of thunder, and the light rain turned into a hard, pounding rain. 

Patton was swept up in the dance, passed from partner to partner, pounding his feet into the ground with an energy he never dared when he was a giant. Color and energy and  _ life  _ swirled around him. Many people, most just as excited as he was, all happy with him. 

It was dark, almost too dark to see, and the massive party was just starting to dissolve, when the ground trembled, and Patton looked up to see Logan. 

Suddenly he was hit with a wave of dizziness, and swayed. 

“Virgil said the potion should be wearing off now. I’ve come to take you home.” Logan stretched a hand down to the ground. 

Patton stumbled into his hand, holding tightly to his thumb as the movement and the dizziness made him feel like he was falling. But soon, the movement stopped. Logan laid him down on his bed, and Patton slipped his eyes closed. 

“Lo, that was the best night of my life!” 

“You seemed like you had a good time,” Logan replied, and Patton could hear the smile and the fondness in his voice. 

“I did. I really did. Thank you!”

The bed felt like it was moving beneath him, and Patton knew he must be getting larger. He waited until he was his normal size again, and then sat up, and tackled Logan in a hug. 


End file.
